The action of microsecond-pulsed plasma-activated media on the inactivation of human lung cancer cells

In the present work, we have generated reactive species (RS) through microsecond-pulsed plasma (MPP) in the cell culture media using a Marx generator with point–point electrodes of approximately 0.06 J discharge energy/pulse. RS generated in culture media through MPP have a selective action between growth of the H460 lung cancer cells and L132 normal lung cells. We observed that MPP-activated media (MPP-AM) induced apoptosis on H460 lung cancer cells through an oxidative DNA damage cascade. Additionally, we studied the apoptosis-related mRNA expression, DNA oxidation and polymerase-1 (PARP-1) cleaved analysis from treated cancer cells. The result proves that radicals generated through MPP play a pivotal role in the activation of media that induces the selective killing effect.